Library won’t have new director until after April 12

March 31, 2016 | Chris Goudreau
cgoudreau@thereminder.com

EAST LONGMEADOW – Five candidates are set to be interviewed for the library director position, but a new head of the East Longmeadow Public Library (ELPL) won’t be chosen until after the April 12 Town Election due to the proposed charter vote.

“We don’t plan to offer anyone the job prior to the election,” Board of Library Trustees Chair Arthur McGuire told Reminder Publications.

He added if the new council-manager form of government were approved by voters, the powers of the board would be reduced in terms of hiring staff.

“The authority of the library board vanishes at that time,” he noted. “We’re unable to hire because the hiring and the budget go to the hands of the [seven-member Town Council]. We’re prepared to do that, but in the absence of any decision yet, we’re functioning as if that issue is not present.”

He said the board is aware of a letter from the Charter Commission, which recommends that elected bodies not hire new staff prior to the charter vote.

McGuire said the board did not initially receive many applicants when an advertisement was put out for the job in early winter, following former library director Susan Peterson’s Jan. 8 retirement.

“We watched as our time limit, early March, came to a close, but now we have five suitable applicants,” he noted. “We didn’t at the time. We really didn’t have anyone.”

He added seven people applied for the job, most of whom reside in New England. One man who applied for the job was from Australia.

“The key is a master of library science that the state requires for a town this size,” McGuire said. “Well, universities are dropping that masters program. The guy from Australia, of course, didn’t have it. Everybody else has it who’s applied.”

A screening subcommittee is handling the vetting process, he noted. Once the screening committee concludes its interview process, finalists would be recommended to the full board. There is no limit to the number of qualified candidates the subcommittee could recommend.

“If all five are eligible and don’t have something to disqualify them in some obvious way, the rest of the board members are eager to be part of the decision,” he said. “I expect four or five [finalists].”

McGuire said the decision to hire a new library director could be made sometime in April or May depending on the charter vote.

“The next board meeting I think is a day or two after the election,” he noted. “We’ll know what are pathway is relative to the charter at that time.”

McGuire said he believes personnel hiring and management is key to the library director job.

“The thing that separates our library from [others] is the skill of the recently retired director to pick good people and manage them,” he added.  

Other board members have emphasized a list of necessary skills for the job, including knowledge of information technology and community outreach, he noted.

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